I came across an interesting article from the CBC yesterday, about what it dubbed The Facebook Generation, and how there might be some privacy issues to go along with this newfangled information orgy:

... there are stories of student suspensions and employers declining job applicants after gaining access to Facebook profiles.

American companies have reportedly asked college students to do Internet checks of potential employees.

Facebook "friends" can upload photos of you and "tag" them, a process that allows all the people in your network to see them. If a colleague is in your network, suddenly they gain new insight into your private life.

A Calgary lawyer in her 20s who didn't want her name published was hesitant about co-worker requests on Facebook. As a professional, she felt more sensitive about disclosing her private life than some of her peers. Source: CBC

Well, seeing as how everyone and his or her dog is on Facebook, these kind of things are only going to become more and more of an issue.

Now the word on the street is that Yahoo is the prime candidate to acquire Facebook, and if that happens, you can expect that it would only be a matter of time before there's a Chinese-language version. Yahoo is, indeed, planning a similar crossover into China for Flickr.

In fact, some Chinese netizens may already have reason to be concerned about their private info. One Chinese Facebook clone, Xiaonei.com, provides information that I would consider far more dangerous than anything presently on Facebook.

I did a "Little Red Experiment" and signed up for an account on Xiaonei. I found that the social network is mostly based around Chinese High Schools and Universities, so I registered under my old Chinese Language School, in the Chinese Language Department. A perfectly valid choice, but I'm willing to bet that I just might be the only white guy in all of Xiaonei!

What alarmed me about Xiaonei were the specific search options made available when you search for a friend:

• Name


• City or Province


• High School or University


• Graduating Year


• Department of Study


• Dorm Number


• Hometown


• Sex

Dorm number? I mean, do you really want such location-specific information floating around out there on the Internet for every Tom, Dick, and Harry, Wang, Fang and Zhang to find?

Lest you find yourself on the tail end of an all-too-common Sino-Internet-witchhunt, I advise all you Chinese netizens out there to please stay on your best behavior!

 

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